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Parents stressed at work as dispute lags on, results find

In a new poll, 41 per cent of parents responded that they’re worried about the effect the dispute could have on their careers, while 56 per cent said the strike is causing them stress at work.

Photograph by: CHAD HIPOLITO
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tammy Theis recently started a new job and is trying to make a good impression, but she’s worried about what could happen if the teachers’ strike continues into the fall and her child care plans fall through.

Theis, a program assistant in Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Education, said she’s been stressed out just thinking about what will happen when her regular nanny leaves to go to school, leaving her with two children who are scheduled to start kindergarten and Grade 3.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.

She’s concerned that she’ll end up having to take time off work to take care of the children — like she’s already seen a few colleagues do — if she can’t extend the before- and after-school care she has arranged at a school in New Westminster.

“I feel lucky that I work at SFU, because they probably will make more concessions than some people’s employers.”

Theis isn’t alone in feeling stressed out by the continuing contract dispute between teachers and the province.

In a new online poll conducted by Insights West, 41 per cent of parents said they’re worried about the effect the dispute could have on their careers, while 56 per cent said the strike is causing them stress at work.

Finding child care is a big factor in that, according to Mario Canseco of Insights West.

“You’re in the middle of your job and suddenly you have to step outside because you have to take care of your children, or you can’t come into work on Thursday because there’s nobody to take care of your children,” he said.

“Is your supervisor going to be mad at you?”

And it’s not just parents who are feeling anxious: 40 per cent of the non-parents surveyed told pollsters that their lives have been affected by the dispute as well.

“More than anything, it’s because some of these non-parents have had to pick up the slack,” Canseco said. More than a third of non-parents surveyed said their colleagues who are parents have been leaving the office early or working less.

But the child care strain doesn’t necessarily mean that British Columbians are welcoming the province’s offer last month of $40 per day for child care if the teachers’ dispute continues into September.

The Insights West poll also found that public opinion hasn’t budged since the offer was made: 49 per cent of respondents support the B.C. Teachers Federation, while 38 per cent favour the B.C. government. Those numbers are practically identical to those measured by the polling company in June.

In fact, the majority of those polled (52 per cent) described the child care payment as a bad idea. Parents of public school students were evenly split on the government’s offer.

Canseco said the lukewarm support is a bit unusual.

“Usually when you have a government that is offering to pay you back, the numbers tend to be consistently high, so a lot of people are seeing this as a gimmick,” he said.

He compared this poll to a survey he conducted in 2010 after then-premier Gordon Campbell’s offer of HST credits for low-income earners. People surveyed at the time said that while they didn’t like the new harmonized sales tax, they were happy to receive a tax break.

The difference, Canseco believes, is in perception.

“I don’t think people are looking at this as a way to get a deal done. They’re looking at this as a way to save face,” he said.

The teachers’ union and government representatives returned to the bargaining table this week, although neither side would reveal how talks were going.

The Insights West poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday, using an online survey of 816 British Columbians. Results have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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